Abstract:
Shower heads are particularly susceptible to bacteria. They are dark,
worm, damp environment-the perfect host for bacteria to grow. A biofilm
accumulates inside shower heads are provides a healthy environment for
bacteria to grow. Shower usage provides a source for repeated exposure
to microbes through aerosolization and/or direct contact. The objective
of this study is to isolate, characterize and identify microbes from the
biofilm of showerhead. There is little knowledge of either their
prevalence or the nature of other microorganisms that may be delivered
during shower usage. This study was conducted to explore the
composition of the microbial community that resides within the shower
head and to give awareness for community to clean their shower heads
periodically and taking baths instead of showers whenever possible. The
samples were collected by sterile swab sticks from the selected shower
heads and preserved in sterilized bottle with normal saline until they
reached the laboratory, where the samples were stored in a refrigerator
at 4 °C. We followed standard microbiological technique to isolate the
microbes from shower heads. The numbers of isolated microbes on PCA
were 4.43 log CFU/ml to 6.48 log CFU/ml and 4.51 log CFU/ml to7.48 log
CFU/ml on MCA. The predominant microorganisms on shower heads
biofilm taken from nine bathrooms included, Staphylococcus aereus,
Staphylococcus epidermis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, E. coli,
Mycobacterium phlei, Micrococcus luteus, Serratia marcescen,
Aspergillus flavin and Aspergillus niger. Water from an untreated shower
head contain different opportunistic microbes and can cause different
disease.
